New Processor or GPU?

[Treeba]

I'll start this post by saying I don't "need" to upgrade either. I have that upgrade itch and I'm trying to decide which (if either) of these two options would be best.

My current system:
I7-860 2.8GHz - stock speeds
GTX 560 TI
8 GB ram
120gb SSD + 1tb HDD
700W PS
I play at a 1920x1080 resolution.

I primary play WoW, but I also mess around in SWTOR, Rift, LoL, Skyrim, Arkham City/Origins, and a few others. I may also try out Wildstar when it finally comes out. Whenever possible I prefer to play as close to max setting as possible.

What's going to be the bigger upgrade for me overall?

GTX 770 or
I5 3570k or I5 4670k - I will probably leave them at the stock clock for awhile, but OCing is a possibility down the road.

For entirely personal reasons I would prefer to stick with Intel and Nvidia. Would either of these be worthwhile? Would the old Lynnfield bottleneck the GPU too much in the more GPU intensive games? Most of these games would probably benefit more from the GPU, but I imagine WoW would see a bigger improvement from the CPU especially in WoD.

[LurkerOnly]

Well, lots of newish and especially games in the immediate future are going to be using more textures than before, since high amounts of VRAM is starting to be common. Currently my gtx580 is the biggest bottleneck in my rig by a huge margin, so I have no doubt that if you improve your CPU and leave that 560ti in there, you'll be bottlenecked same as I am, currently.

I'd suggest the GPU if you can only do one. GTX770 might not be as good a choice as 660ti for value/cost, but I'd have to look into it further and I don't have the time at the moment. Check into the difference between those two before you decide, make sure you get good value.

[Deleted]

Perhaps overclock your i7 and upgrade the GPU?

I wouldn't rule out an R9 280X, recently discussed in this thread, depending on where you live prices are usually ~$30-40 difference.

[Jargan]

The MMOs and Skyrim that you listed are mainly CPU bound, so you're going to get more performance out of a better CPU and overclocking.

A new Z87 mobo, i5-4670k, and a cpu cooler are going to give more performance than a similarly priced GPU in the games you listed. From there, overclocking is a cheap way to get a nice fps increase in games where the 560Ti isn't bottlenecking.

[Hellravager]

Both save up 500-600 and replace them both

[igniter]

Well, lots of newish and especially games in the immediate future are going to be using more textures than before, since high amounts of VRAM is starting to be common. Currently my gtx580 is the biggest bottleneck in my rig by a huge margin, so I have no doubt that if you improve your CPU and leave that 560ti in there, you'll be bottlenecked same as I am, currently.

I'd suggest the GPU if you can only do one. GTX770 might not be as good a choice as 660ti for value/cost, but I'd have to look into it further and I don't have the time at the moment. Check into the difference between those two before you decide, make sure you get good value.

I'm pretty similar. Mind you my CPU is only a 2500K, but it should do fine on W*/EQN/ESO. Going to grab a 690 or something similar when prices drop. Assuming my CPU can hack these new titles that is.

[Treeba]

Both save up 500-600 and replace them both

The thought had occurred to me, but I'm not sure I want to drop $650 on myself this close to Christmas. We'll see what the black friday/cyber monday deals look like.

I'm pretty similar. Mind you my CPU is only a 2500K, but it should do fine on W*/EQN/ESO. Going to grab a 690 or something similar when prices drop. Assuming my CPU can hack these new titles that is.

Everything I keep reading suggests upgrading the CPU won't be a huge difference even with mine being a generation behind yours. I must say that surprises me a little considering most MMOs tend to be so CPU heavy.

Perhaps overclock your i7 and upgrade the GPU?

That's what I'm leaning towards atm. Seems I should probably wait for Broadwell or Skylake, but I'm open to other opinions. At least installing a GPU is significantly quicker and less of a hassle than a new mobo + CPU.